AUBURN – CityLink officials will fix one of their two aging buses this summer, but will remain short until replacements can be purchased.

“If we don’t get new buses, we may have to shut down routes this winter,” said Phil Nadeau, Lewiston’s deputy city administrator and a member of the Lewiston Auburn Transit Committee. “We’re rolling the dice, but I don’t think we have any other choice.”

The CityLink system relies on 10 buses operated and maintained by Western Maine Transportation System for six Lewiston-Auburn routes and a free downtown shuttle.

Four buses purchased in 2006 and two in 2002 are new and in good shape. Two 1999 small buses, used on the downtown shuttle route, are beginning to show their age.

But transit officials are concerned about the two 1996 buses, the oldest in the fleet. Both were designed to last 10 years and maintenance officials expect that without extensive repairs, both will fail state inspections in August.

Committee members Thursday authorized repairs on one bus for an estimated $12,000. That should give the CityLink system one spare bus.

“We can operate with one spare, but we really need two,” said Transit Coordinator Marsha Bennett. Having fewer buses doesn’t leave room for regular maintenance or breakdowns.

Bennett said CityLink will borrow Mountain Explorer buses from the service WMTS runs in Bethel through the summer.

“But they’ll need those back once the winter starts,” she said. “And we’ll be left with one spare.”

The LATC will apply this summer for federal money to purchase two new buses. They would slightly smaller than the 1996 buses they’d replace.

“But that’s what is in the system right now, and that’s all we can apply for,” Nadeau said.